


Rules of Engagement

by staccato_ramble



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-02
Updated: 2012-10-02
Packaged: 2017-11-15 11:43:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/526934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staccato_ramble/pseuds/staccato_ramble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>  In which Blaine Anderson plans the perfect proposal over and over, only to have the universe act out against him. At least he learns some tricks along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rules of Engagement

**Author's Note:**

> Written for klaine_endgame. The link goes to a YouTube video of Blaine's song.

_1) Don’t let your environment overwhelm you_.

Blaine Anderson is twenty-five and has never really put much stock in New Year’s resolution. He thinks it's a nice idea use a new year as a reason to change, but it seems like most resolutions are obliterated by Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

So, when Kurt asks for his resolutions as they get ready for Santana's New Year's Eve party, Blaine shrugs and say he doesn't have any. Kurt makes a face in the mirror, checking his angles as he “artistically tousles” his hair.

"I want to start running and finish the guest room," Kurt says, "That way I'll have a healthy heart and a nice home as I enter my old age."

Blaine rolls his eyes a little, because he's not sure why Kurt decided that being twenty-six meant one was elderly, but it's become a recurring theme ever since his last birthday. Leaning in close, Blaine likes to relish in the scent of Kurt's cologne before dropping a kiss to his boyfriend's cheek and pulling him up.

"Don't forget, you can tell all your friends at the retirement home about how you're the hottest cougar in town."

"Santana does like the story about how I corrupted a prep school boy," Kurt agrees, straightening Blaine's bowtie.

It's such a simple gesture, something Kurt's been doing ever since they were in high school. By this point, it should probably seem annoying, but it just makes Blaine's stomach flip pleasantly as a reminder that he is so, so crazy about Kurt.

It's snowing by the time they get outside, so as they wait for the train, Blaine sticking his hands into Kurt's coat pockets to keep them warm. Kurt is smiling when he warns, "You need to remember your gloves or I'll clip them to your coat like you're four."

Blaine huffs out a laugh and watches his visible breath as it curls around Kurt's face. The reason he's opted to go gloveless tonight is that there's a ring box in his pocket. He's willing to risk frostbitten fingers, because he was afraid that when he pulled his gloves out of his coat pocket, the box would come tumbling out and ruin the surprise.

Kurt pulls him into a hug, pressing his forehead against Blaine's in order for the maximum potential for heat sharing while staying publicly decent. It's really starting to come down, and there's snowflakes clinging to his eyelashes and Blaine just _has_ to inhale sharply. Even after nine years together, Kurt can take his breath away without actually doing anything.

And, god, if that isn't a motivator, Blaine doesn't know what else is, so he takes his hands out of Kurt's pockets and shoves them into his own. Blaine closes his hand around the ring box confidently, rubbing his thumb over the lid to reassure it's still there. Kurt doesn't even notice, because he's watching something over Blaine's shoulder.

"Kurt," Blaine says slowly, pulling away so he can drop to one knee when a shrill scream shatters the subdued chatter of the train platform.

As he frantically tries to block as much of Kurt as he can with his own body, Blaine can't help but feel _bitter_. Of all the train stations in all of New York, it figured that someone would be getting mugged in the one he'd try to get engaged in. Except, when he takes in the scene, Blaine realizes no one is getting mugged. No, it's much worse than that.

The source of the scream was a girl who looks a little younger than him. She's currently bouncing up and down, chanting the word 'yes' over and over as the guy in front of her slides a ring on her left hand. Once he's done, they're hugging and kissing as the entire platform bursts into applause.

Blaine is horrified, even as he claps politely. This was supposed to be his proposal, with the train station cheering for him and Kurt as they made out in front of anyone without caring, because they would have been _engaged_. Glancing at his boyfriend, Blaine catches Kurt wiping at the corners of his eyes with a huge grin on his face.

"This is why I love this city," Kurt says, grabbing Blaine around the waist and squeezing him, "You can see something out of a movie while you wait for the train. How sweet was that?"

All of Blaine's irritation disappears then, because he knows Kurt lives for grand, romantic gestures and seeing Kurt happy never fails to improve his own mood. Releasing his vice grip on the ring box, Blaine cups Kurt face in his hands and kisses the other man. The crowd, still excited from the previous scene, starts to holler with delight. Blaine, always the performer, takes it as a cue to dip Kurt and deepen the kiss. That's when the cat calls start and Blaine here's someone yell, "Forget Virginia, New York City is for lovers!"

When they come back up, it's like all the sounds of the station seem to melt away as Blaine goes into his Kurt-centric tunnel version. The other man's face is red from the wind and the kiss, but he's wearing the smile that seems designed specifically to turn Blaine's knees to jelly. Kurt tugs the lapels of his coat back into place and presses another, sweet kiss to Blaine's mouth.

By now, the train is rattling its way to a stop and everyone is too busy swarming the loading platform to pay any attention to them, but it's a brief kiss anyway. Kurt takes him by the hand and pulls Blaine into the fray, where they wind up next to the newly engaged couple. Blaine leans in and, genuinely, wishes them the best of luck.

As they ride the train, Kurt winds up talking to the couple about how they got together. Blaine is more than happy to watch, because he's got to figure out a way to top it by the end of the year. He still doesn't trust the longevity of New Years' resolutions, so he decides that it's his goal to be happily engaged by the time the upcoming year finishes.

"You're quiet tonight," Kurt says, when they're about halfway to Santana's and the conversation with the other couple has died out, "Thinking about anything important?"

"Only you," Blaine replies because it's New Years, he's in love and, most importantly, it's true.

 

_2) Keep potential danger to a minimum._

Picking the song had been hard.

In their time together, Kurt and Blaine built an entire album of songs that were "theirs". _Teenage Dream_ reminds Kurt of when they first met, and Blaine will always associate their first kiss with _Blackbird_. When they first had sex, Amy Winehouse played on Blaine's iPod and, for the year they were in different states, both of them had played _Sendin' All My Loving to You_ on an endless loop.

And while all those songs are amazing and make Blaine's stomach turn pleasantly, he wants new step of their relationship having a song of its own. Starting around Valentine's Day, he begins to rack his brain for something, listening to the radio obsessively and trying to ask his friends for suggestions without being obvious. It was a bitterly cold day at the end of February when inspiration struck him. In the winter, Blaine likes to stay in bed for as long as possible, staying under the covers and listening to the world start around him. When his morning breath becomes too much, and he drags himself out of bed, Blaine manages to catch the last few bars of Kurt singing _Your Song_.

As Kurt brushes his teeth and Blaine hops into the shower himself, the second proposal falls into place. As he shampoos his hair, Blaine runs through all the details in his head and comes up with a game plan. Their anniversary is right around the corner, and they didn't have anything planned, because Kurt had a show that night. That would give Blaine more than enough time to decorate the apartment, cook a elegant dinner, and serenade Kurt before proposing.

By the time March 15th rolls around, Blaine uses two Sunday afternoons to buy supplies from various shops around their neighborhood. He feels particularly stealthy when, after the stupid subway runs ten minutes late, he manages to hide a bulk package of tea light candles under the bed as Kurt walked in. Their anniversary falls on a Monday this year, and Blaine takes the day off of work in order to set up the apartment.

Every inch of their tiny living room is scrubbed down, and Blaine even pulls out the ancient Dirt Devil the former tenants left behind in order to vacuum the carpets. He clears the old magazines and debris from the coffee table, replacing them with a white tablecloth. And it takes about twenty minutes of fiddling with, but Blaine figures out how to remove the TV before hiding it in the hall closet. The tea lights are scattered about artistically on the entertainment center and, after Blaine showers and changes, he painstakingly lights fifty of them in order to create the perfect romantic atmosphere.

Chicken Parmesan wasn't the easiest thing to cook without spilling all over himself, but Blaine manages to get it in the oven without any major disasters. After washing the dishes, he sets out the best plates and silverware they own onto the coffee table. As he surveys everything he's done, Blaine rolls the engagement ring over in the palm of his hand. In the months since he'd bought it, the ring has become his worry stone, because it already reminds him of Kurt.

There's a jingling at the door and Blaine shoves the ring in his pocket, positioning himself in front of the door. When Kurt sees Blaine, he jumps back at first with a little yelp. Holding a bouquet of roses, he laughs with delight when he peeks into the apartment.

"I see I've been out surprised," Kurt says, passing Blaine the flowers, "Happy anniversary."

Once inside, Kurt gushes over how romantic everything is and allows himself to be led to the couch. Strumming a little to make sure his guitar is still tuned from when he practiced earlier, Blaine offers up a nervous smile. Never before in his life has he gotten stage fright, so it's ridiculous that his stomach twists up into knots now. This is only Kurt watching him from the other side of the couch. Reassuring himself that he's sang thousands of times in front of Kurt, he takes a deep breath before starting.

"[It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szBM3XMS8sM)"

Blaine is pretty sure that the only reason he doesn't pass out when singing is because he focuses on Kurt's eyes the whole time. First, they go wide with recognition and quickly soften to the point where Blaine really can't tell what color they are, only that they're warm with love. When he finishes, Kurt leans over the guitar to kiss him.

"How'd I manage to land the perfect man?" Kurt asks, cupping Blaine's cheek.

"That's my line," Blaine says, happy to find the knots in his stomach fading fast, "While we're here, I wanted to know if you-"

He doesn't get to finish the sentence, because the smoke alarm suddenly starts to whine. They turn towards the tea lights and, seeing that the living room wasn't actually on fire, exchange a horrified look. If this were a sitcom, Kurt and Blaine would have gone 'dinner' in unison, but since it isn't, they trip over each other as they run into the kitchen.

Smoke seeps out of the oven, and Blaine doesn't even think to pull on an oven mitt before opening it up and depositing the ruined Chicken Parmesan into the sink, efficiently burning his hand.

Once he fans the smoke out of the kitchen window, Kurt cleans and bandages Blaine's hand, even pressing a kiss to the palm when he's done. The way his shoulders shake with contained laughter the whole time, however, does nothing to soothe Blaine's ego, nor does Kurt's flippant tone when he asks, "So, do you want to go out or order in?"

Blaine honestly tries to feel annoyed, but Kurt's eyes are sparkling and he's running a hand over Blaine's thigh. Soon, they both slid to the kitchen floor, laughing hard enough for tears to stream down their faces. When they are reduced to nothing but wheezing, Blaine presses a shaky kiss to Kurt's nose.

"Happy anniversary. Let's go to the diner two blocks down." There is a long pause, then Blaine adds, "We should blow the candles out first."

They spend ten more minutes laughing on the linoleum, sides aching and wonderfully in love.

 

_3) Don't let someone steal your moment._

Family is important to Kurt. For the longest time, it was just him and his dad, meaning they were thick as thieves. The only grandchild on either side, Kurt grew up spoiled by his grandparents and adored by his great aunts and uncles. When Carole and Finn came into the picture, Kurt learned how to be a loving brother and turned himself into one of Carole's closest friends. The Hudson-Hummels spend every holiday they can together, teasing and laughing and just enjoying each others' presence.

Blaine has always felt awkward around his own parents and belittled by Cooper, but he loves his extended family dearly. When he gets an invitation to an Anderson family reunion in the mail, Blaine sees it as a perfect opportunity. His family has listened to him talk about Kurt for what seems like forever, but never met the man who turned Blaine's world upside down. The Anderson clan is scattered throughout the country, meeting every five years for reunions. Blaine and Kurt couldn't get out of work for the last one and, the one before that, their relationship had been too new for Kurt to come on the trip.

They RSVP immediately for this reunion though. Kurt excited about a long weekend on the beach and Blaine trying to figure out the best place at the beach house for a proposal. As they drive up to Cape Cod, Blaine reassures Kurt that everyone will be crazy about him. Still, as they pull up to the sprawling Anderson beach house, he looks nervous.

Once they get into the back yard, Blaine's family swarms them. They want to know every detail of their relationship, like they haven't heard it from Blaine over the years. Standing on the sidelines, Blaine is more than happy to watch his family fall in love with Kurt the same way he did, acting blissfully ignorant to the whispering. While there are some family members who would be less than thrilled if they knew what Blaine was planning for this weekend, none of them would dare voice their objections, fearful of the combined wrath of Blaine's mother and Granny Anderson. (Blaine is, without a doubt, her favorite grandchild, because he's the youngest. It's something everyone in the family knows, even if no one  says it out loud.)

When he senses that Kurt is getting worn down, Blaine saves him from the family, claiming that they need to eat before all the food is gone. As they load up their plates with potato salad and barbecue, Kurt presses a kiss to Blaine's cheek to show his gratitude. It's more reserved than what they're used to but absolutely perfect for the setting. Blaine loves him for that and leads Kurt to a more secluded part of the yard, where there's a gazebo that overlooks the water.

"It's beautiful here," Kurt says, dazed for a moment.

By the tone of his voice alone, Blaine knows this will be the spot where he proposes to the love of his love. It's fitting, because it was his favorite part of the property growing up and it will look stunning when it's lit up by starlight and fireflies in a little bit. Still, Blaine just eats quietly, because he doesn't want to tip Kurt off. It had been hard enough to find a free moment to stuff the ring box into the pocket of his cargo shorts while they were unloading the car.

"You ready to go back yet?" Blaine asks, when they're done eating.

Setting his plate down on the seat of the gazebo, Kurt places a hand on Blaine's knee and grins wickedly. Normally, Blaine would be busy feeling amazed by how the setting sun brings out streaks of gold in Kurt's hair and makes his skin seem to glow. Instead, he's preoccupied by the way Kurt's hand inches up his leg and into a territory that is not family friendly.

"I don't think your family would miss us if we were gone for a little while," Kurt says, kissing his jaw line, "This is the first real vacation we've had in months."

Blaine thinks the other man makes an excellent point, and it's not just because of the way he shivers pleasantly when Kurt tugs on Blaine's tie to pull him in closer. Still, Blaine has something he wants to do first, because how amazing would it be to announce his and Kurt's engagement in front of everyone?

Gently, Blaine pulls Kurt's hands off his tie and holds them. Taking a breath to reassure himself, Blaine says, "I love you."

The look of confusion on Kurt's face softens and he leans in to kiss Blaine on the nose. "I love you, too. That's why I thought we'd make out while we can."

_This whole thing would be a hundred times easier if Kurt didn't make me laugh,_ Blaine thinks, trying to look composed even as his shoulders shake a little. He reaches into his pocket to pull out the ring box, figuring the sight of it will settle them both.

Except, Kurt is mirroring his actions, looking annoyed as he checks his phone. He pushes it at Blaine, who feels his blood boil a little because the caller ID reads _Cooper_. Blaine is tempted to hit ignore, but knows it will only lead to his whole family panicking, so he motions for Kurt to take the call.

"Hello, Cooper," Kurt says, "You've got me and Blaine on speaker right now, make it quick."

"No problem!" Cooper replies cheerfully, "Just calling to say that Maggie went into labor, and you guys are gonna be uncles. Talk later!"

He hangs up then, leaving Kurt and Blaine to exchange dumbfounded looks before they start racing back towards the house. All of the excitement, along with his elderly great aunts in the back seat, make Blaine completely forget the ring in his pocket as they drive to the hospital. Seven hours later, the reunion has been put on hold so everyone can welcome Harper Anderson to the family.

She's about two months early and tiny because of it, but the doctors say she's healthy. Cooper has been temporarily been banned from the room by his girlfriend, who was afraid he'd get overemotional and start shouting again. As Kurt cuddles Harper close to his chest for a picture, Blaine decides he forgives his niece for the interruption.

She'll make a cute flower girl, when the time comes.

 

_4) Expect the unexpected._

"This is a head trip," Kurt says, "Dalton hasn't changed a bit."

Blaine could point out that the sofas in the common room are new, but he gets what Kurt means. It's the first time either one of them has been back since high school, and nothing seems to have changed in ten years time. Part of him expects a teacher to pop out of nowhere and scold him for not his non-regulation blazer.

This is the first year they've been invited to an Alumni Association Dinner, and it fell close enough to Thanksgiving that they could justify staying in Ohio a little longer to go. The first thing that strikes him is that everyone seems so grown up now. Wes is in law school, and David wants to run for mayor in his next local election, and everyone else is either having kids or getting married.

Speaking of, Blaine hates himself a little right now. He meant to propose at Thanksgiving, but Finn and his girlfriend had gotten into a fight after dinner that soured the romantic mood. Then, when they visited Blaine's family the next day, Kurt couldn't be pulled away from Harper long enough for Blaine to pop the question. Blaine has spent so much of his holiday taking his frustrations out on food that his pants felt tight this morning.

Even now, as Blaine watches Kurt flit from person to person, he’s stuffing his face with these awesome little crab cakes. He's probably on his sixth or seventh when inspiration strikes. At this very moment, he's in the middle of the Dalton Academy, also known as the place that he and Kurt first met. The ring box stays in his pocket at all time, and Blaine is positive that no one will miss them if he and Kurt disappear for a few minutes.

Excitement starts to bubble up in his stomach instantaneously, but Blaine waits by the snack table until he has a rough idea of what he's going to say. Kurt has been dropping references to the speech Blaine has used to ask him out ever since they stepped foot on campus, and he just _has_ to top it. By the time that Kurt makes his way around the room and back to Blaine, he's looking flushed from excitement and the complimentary champagne.

"Since when are you a wallflower?" he asks, kissing Blaine's cheek and grabbing one of the crab cakes off his plate. When he bites into it, Kurt immediately makes a face and sets it back down. "I don't think we should eat any more of these, honey."

Blaine sees this as an opportunity that he's than happy to seize; setting the plate down and taking Kurt by the hand. As they slip out of the common room and down the hallway, the butterflies in Blaine's stomach seem to multiply by a tenfold. Kurt squeezes his hand and asks, "Is this going where I think it's going?"

As he tries to remember how the hallways of Dalton run together after nearly a decade, all Blaine can do is offer up a nervous smile. When they finally reach the circular staircase, Blaine orders for Kurt to stay put before rushing down and waiting at the bottom. Once there, he takes a deep breath to calm himself down and says, "This is the place where we first met."

Even from the bottom of the staircase, he can see Kurt's eyes crinkle as he smiles. It's the same smile that he gave Blaine when they moved into their first apartment and when they had their respective graduation ceremonies and when Blaine sang _Teenage Dream_ to him for the first time. It's the smile that still makes his stomach flip and he hopes it always will. Kurt takes a few steps down, walking slowly and looking around the room like he did on his first day at Dalton. Blaine wants to rush forward to meet him, but his feet seem to be frozen to the ground. When Kurt comes and grabs his hand, Blaine has to remind himself of what he came here for and smiles.

"This is the place where we first met," he repeats, "It's where we had our first kiss and, technically, dinner in the cafeteria was our first date-"

"That _so_ wasn't our first date, Blaine Anderson." Kurt's eyes are narrowed, but his tone is light and teasing.

"Either way, you have to agree that Dalton has a lot of good memories for us, and it's always going to represent where our relationship started."

Okay, so this speech was totally kicking ass, because Blaine himself is starting to get choked with emotion. All the other times he's tried to propose, the response has never been so physical. He feels warm and nervous, but it's a good type of nervous that comes from the way that Kurt looks at him with his head slightly tilted and wide eyes.

"Blaine, you don't look-"

He shushes Kurt, because this time, he's decided to actually propose before he pulls the ring out. Except, when Blaine opens his mouth to pop the question, there's a burning in his throat. He suddenly, awfully realizes that he's about to throw up, but it's already too late, and he's getting sick all over his dress shoes and the polished linoleum.

Kurt moves down the stairs at an inhuman speed, wrapping a comforting arm around Blaine's shoulders and leading him to the nearest bathroom. For the next hour, Blaine is sick and Kurt stays with him, rubbing between his shoulder blades and humming softly. Both of their phones go off, and Blaine manages to lift his head high enough to ask, "It was the crab cakes, wasn't it? I ate, like, a dozen of them and now they're trying to kill me."

Offering up a weak smile, Kurt runs a hand through Blaine's hair, which has come partially free from its gel and now puffs out at odd angles. As he leans into the touch, Blaine toys with the idea of proposing later on in the evening, maybe after the former Warblers sing for the rest of the alumni. Except, his stupid, wonderful boyfriend squashes that idea when he texts Wes to say that they're leaving. At least he's kind enough to not tell everyone what happened and promises belly rubs when they get back to Kurt's parents’ house.

Curling up in the backseat, Blaine isn't thrilled that he didn't get his proposal out, but the way Kurt sings to him the whole way home only reassures him this is the man he wants to marry.

 

_5) Know your audience._

By 10:30, Kurt pulls himself out of his Nyquil induced coma and emerges from the bedroom, hair a mess and blanket wrapped tight around his shoulder. He shuffles into the living room and onto the sofa, glaring blearily at Blaine. “I wanna go out.”

He’s been fighting this cold for a week, but still acted offended by the fact that Blaine insisted they stay in tonight. Still, after a few more minutes of glaring, Kurt leans over until his head rests on Blaine’s shoulder, sniffling loudly enough to drown out the sound of the news. They’ve always been comfortable around each other, but this feels different. It’s a more grown up feeling, spreading through Blaine’s chest when Kurt asks if there’s any dinner.

“Chicken and rice soup. I’ll heat some up for you,” Blaine says, laughing at the noise of protest Kurt makes when he pulls away.

In the kitchen, Blaine can’t help but think about how nice it is to stay home for New Year’s Eve. He loves going to parties at their friends’ houses or counting down in Time’s Square, but there’s something wonderfully _domestic_ about sitting on their couch together and watching the celebration on TV. It makes him feel older in a good way, like they’re actually grown ups instead of a pair of kids playing pretend.

There’s a little more than an hour left to the year and, even after four failed proposals, Blaine is determined to pop the question. By now, he’s given up on an elaborate scene or anything that requires lengthy planning. Still, he wants to give Kurt exactly what he deserves: something romantic and memorable. As he brews tea to go with the soup, Blaine decides that he’ll ask Kurt to marry him just before the countdown starts, so they can be engaged as they ring in the New Year.

“Anderson Cooper is only ten blocks from our apartment!” Kurt says excitedly as Blaine passes him a bowl of soup.

Glancing at the TV, he sees Anderson Cooper interviewing New Yorkers in front of a cafe he likes as Kurt swoons next to him on the couch. Rolling his eyes, Blaine steals some of the blankets and reminds himself that in an hour, Kurt will have forgotten all about his crush on the reporter. Other than the sound of Kurt slurping down his soup, they’re both quiet until the show goes to commercial.

“Hey,” Kurt says suddenly, voice sounding better from the tea.

Blaine looks up guiltily, expecting a scolding to either take his cold feet out from Kurt's lap or to put pair of socks on first. Except, then Kurt starts to rub one of his feet absently as he sets his mug of tea on the end table. His nose is bright red, and his eyes are glazed from all the medicine he's been taking in the past few days, but Kurt's smile is the same as ever: bright and lovely even as he clears his throat.

"The New Year is supposed to be trying different, exciting things, right?"

Instantly, Blaine is torn between horror and amusement, because he's pretty sure his boyfriend is about to suggest that they steal Anderson Cooper as a way to ring in the New Year. He's so busy coming up with a list of ways to keep any holiday kidnappings from happening that Blaine is completely blindsided to what Kurt says next.

"We should get married," Kurt says, voice making it obvious that he won't take no for an answer.

Blaine can't believe this is happening. For the past 365 days, he's been obsessing over the perfect way to propose. He's read thousands of articles online and spent hours listening to love songs on his iPod. It's been a year of Blaine keeping the ring box on his person at all times and keeping it all a secret so he doesn't ruin the surprise. And every time he tried to propose, Blaine has been so nervous that he was half-afraid he would pass out, but Kurt sounded so relaxed when he suggested they get married.

_Oh,_ Blaine thinks, suddenly feeling stupid, _Kurt wants us to get married._

Kurt gives his foot a little squeeze and Blaine looks up, feeling like he's the one who's spent the day guzzling cold medicine. It's nice, he thinks, that even though Kurt is still smiling, he looks a little nervous. The future is a scary thing after all.  
Surprised at the sudden emotion in his own voice, Blaine asks, "Is this a proposal?"

"I don't have a ring," Kurt says, eyes widening in alarm, "Oh my god. I'm asking you to marry me without a ring!"

His voice cracks weakly and then he turns to cough violently into his elbow. Blaine knows a sign from the universe when he sees it, so he yanks the ring box out of his jeans so violently that he tears the lining of his pocket, but it's worth it for the look on Kurt's face when he turns back and sees it, asking, "Is that what I think it is?"

"It definitely is," Blaine says, opening it to reveal the silver band he picked out ages ago, "I've been waiting a year to give it to you."

He goes to put the ring onto Kurt's finger, but they're both shaking so badly that he drops it. After a few panicked moments of them searching through the couch cushions, the ring is on Kurt's left hand. They're both on the floor, tangled up in the blankets, and alternating from staring at each other to staring at the ring. Finally, in an unbelieving voice, Kurt says, "You've been trying to propose all year?"

"I wanted to wait for the perfect moment. You just found it first."

And the moment _does_ feel perfect, because being with Kurt is perfect and there's nothing Blaine would rather spend the rest of his life doing. He presses himself close to Kurt's side, craning his neck so they can share their first _engaged_ kiss. Kurt squawks in response, rolling away and protesting. “I'm basically the common cold personified. I'm so gross."

“That’s my fiance you’re talking about,” Blaine says, feeling giddy because he can _finally_ call Kurt that.

Kurt sighs heavily, rolling his eyes and pressing his mouth to Blaine’s. The kiss is quick and light, but there’s no mistaking the love behind it. It’s the kind of kiss Blaine wants at their wedding and for the rest of his life.  



End file.
